Mother Fearest
by Bob the Flying Monkey
Summary: As the anniversary of his wife's "disappearance" looms overhead, Gabriel Agreste's desperation hits new heights. Unfortunately, today's Akuma victim is none other than Emilie Agreste! Spoilers through season 2 and up to halfway season 3. Sympathetic Hawkmoth (the way he should be).
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I neither own nor profit from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir._

**A/N: This is my first Miraculous fanfic, and I am ready for action! **

**SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen up to Season 3 Episode 15, there may be some spoilers in this story. Namely from "Party Crasher" is the layout and features of the secret repository which holds Emilie Agreste's body. Also, if you don't know HawkMoth's true identity, get thee to a nunnery! **

* * *

Adrien wasn't himself. Marinette could tell by the way his eyes wouldn't meet anyone's, not even Nino's. He'd been silent all day, staring at his desk or phone and nothing else. Even when his bodyguard pulled up to take him home, he left without a word to anyone, not even an acknowledgement that he heard their farewells. It had Marinette worried. All of his friends were worried.

Meanwhile, Adrien was impressed with himself - something he was normally not, despite his cocky alter-ego. He had managed not to lose control of himself or his emotions, even when Ms. Bustier pulled him aside after class and asked what was wrong. He told her, of course, what he couldn't tell anyone else: today marked the anniversary of the last time he'd seen his mother.

For the thousandth time that day, Adrien scrolled through the pictures they'd taken together before she had left for that fateful trip. A tear rolled down his cheek, flicked aside as silently as it had arrived. He didn't need his father to hear about this.

Nathalie watched him walk in and up to his room. She swallowed around the lump in her throat. _Like father, like son, _she thought. Once his door was shut, Nathalie let herself into Gabriel's atelier.

The room was vacant. No doubt Gabriel would be searching for another victim to akumatize. With the one-year mark drawing ever closer, Hawkmoth's activity had spiked, preying on increasingly petty aggravations. She was pretty sure he had akumatized a man for stepping in discarded chewing gum some time last week.

The portrait of Emilie Agreste gleamed at her as she approached. Nathalie hesitated, not wanting to incur the wrath of her boss but feeling an overwhelming need to speak to the woman sealed inside. She took a deep breath - mostly to calm her nerves, but in part to catch a whiff of Gabriel's lingering cologne. She pressed her fingertips into the collection of buttons hidden in the mosaic, and descended into darkness.

The clacking of her heels reverberated off the walls and high ceiling of the unusual mausoleum. Nathalie supposed that wasn't the proper term for the room, since mausoleums by definition contain dead bodies. As it were, the only bodies present were alive, however faintly the case may be. It was a long walk to reach Emilie - a lonely walk, which perfectly set the mood. Maybe Gabriel had intended it to feel this way, she mused. His ways of dealing with pain were unconventional, to say the least.

Finally reaching Emilie's stasis chamber, Nathalie was struck by how vibrant her mistress looked. She could have been sleeping, or acting. Though Nathalie would never understand Gabriel's insistence on the flowers, she had to admit to herself that it was a nice touch, albeit strange. Holding her bouquet, she looked just as glamorous in this comatose state as she had a year ago, when she was still up and walking, keeping her son warm and her husband anchored.

A hot coal dropped into her stomach as she reflected on Adrien's state. "Oh, Emilie," she sighed, "If you could just hold him again, everything would be alright. A boy needs his mother. Adrien needs you. Gabriel hasn't been a true father to him since your trip to China. He's so wrapped up in his own misery, he can barely think about Adrien's happiness.

"I wish you were back, Emilie. Even if it means I lose Gabriel, Adrien deserves to have you again. Gabriel thought it would be easier on him if he thought that you disappeared, but I think it only makes it harder for him, not knowing what happened to you."

She glanced back up into the coffin, and jumped. Where a calm smile had been mere seconds before, Emilie's lips were now downturned, her brow faintly wrinkled. "Oh my. Emilie?"

* * *

Hawkmoth stood with his cane straight in front of him. His desperate search for another target was being obstructed by the strong negative emotions within his own house. Adrien's were the strongest, but Gabriel had no intention of using his son as a pawn in such a deadly game. He'd learned his lesson when he'd almost lost Adrien during the rampage of Gorizilla. The other two were in close proximity; perhaps they were having an argument, although Gabriel couldn't remember the last time he'd heard their bodyguard speak. It mattered not.

Finally, a shard of anger shot out from the blandness of Paris. A tourist in the catacombs was being heckled by her teenage sons for being superstitious. It seemed they'd been pranking her all day, trying to scare her and laughing when she jumped. The tourist was getting sick of it.

"Fly, my little Akuma, and evilize her!"

But the Akuma couldn't leave. The hydraulics controlling the view port malfunctioned, and the butterfly beat its wings uselessly against the metal plate.

Hawkmoth clutched his head in annoyance. "Of all things..." He approached the sealed window, clapping his hands and dousing the room in light. The butterflies swarmed at the sudden illumination, the evilized Akuma becoming lost in the larger body of its kin.

Desperate to please its master, the dark Akuma flew along the walls until it found an escape - an air vent that thrummed with discordant waves of negativity. It followed the trail into an enormous, dimly lit room, through the vibrant glass enclosure of its helpless victim.

Hawkmoth was still sizing up the mechanisms when his vision suddenly became obstructed by his newest victim. It was such a shock that he physically jumped. "Hello?" he stumbled, uncharacteristically caught off guard. He could see nothing through the eyes of his victim, but chalked it up to the darkness of the catacombs.

"I suppose my Akuma found a way without me," Hawkmoth smirked to himself. Focusing on his primary task, he addressed the akumatized woman. "Mother Fearest, I am Hawk Moth. Your family does not appreciate you. They think you are weak. But I know better. I will grant you the power to set things right, but in return, I will need the miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir."

Emilie Agreste's eyes shot open, emerald irises as radiant as those she had given her son. "As you wish."

Nathalie watched, engrossed, as a brilliant light emanated from the body before her, until it became too much and she had to shield her eyes.

_BOOM!_

The glass pod exploded, sending Nathalie careening over several rows of bushes and rolling to a stop right at the edge of the innermost circle. Her head smacked the metal curb, scattering stars across her vision. She was still conscious when Emilie - now equipped with the looks and powers befitting a Mother Fearest - levitated through the repository and disappeared out the escape hatch.

"Gabriel," Nathalie moaned, scratching at the phone trapped in her pocket. Before she could free it, she passed out.

Hawkmoth registered the explosion like anyone registers unexpected calamity: with utter confusion. The eruption had come from within his house, he was certain of it. Torn between protecting his own and completing his mission, it took him a ridiculous amount of time to finally detransform back into his civilian self.

Gabriel Agreste rushed out of his atelier into the foyer. "Adrien!" The hall looked untouched, no signs of a disaster. Nonetheless, he sprinted to his son's room, throwing open the door.

"Father!" Adrien yelled as he was swept out of his chair by a terrifying creature of black, jagged spikes. Over twice his size, she dwarfed the boy, who she cradled against her bosom like a new mother with her child. A crown of horns jutted from her skull, fang-like and menacing. Her form was sleek and sheer - unlike many of his Akumas - with little bulk; it flowed like a tightly-fitted dress with an outward flare at the very bottom.

She turned with the boy clutched to her chest and locked glowing eyes with the man. Her ruby lips parted in a grin of unhinged adoration. "Gabriel."

A horrible shiver went down his spine as he realized what he had done. For that voice, even masked so with this melodic echoey effect, belonged indubitably to Emilie Agreste.

Gabriel found himself at a loss for words. His jaw flapped as he tried to form anything coherent. Mother Fearest chuckled in her fluidic way. "Come with us, Gabriel. Let us be a family again."

His foot moved on its own, propelled forward by the ache, the _need_ to be with her again. A soft groan escaped his throat as he fought himself on both fronts. Gabriel Agreste was absolutely torn.

Emilie's smile dropped into a rabid scowl. "It's that assistant of yours, isn't it?!" she spat, sounding entirely unlike herself. "I heard her mewling for you. She spoke to me as if it were _my_ fault that she had these - these _feelings_ for you." Her glower softened into an inviting smile. "No matter. I have assured that she cannot come between us again."

It took him a moment to understand what she was implying, and then to reinterpret what he had observed earlier. "Nathalie." He turned to run back the way he'd come, certain that she must be trapped down in the hidden repository, but faltered as he remembered that Adrien was still in danger. He turned back around, but it was too late.

The green glow of her eyes became red. "You harlot!" she shrieked, her rage roiling off her in waves that crashed against the wall of windows, cracking several. "I should have known your faith was fickle. You are no husband of mine, and no father to my child." With a dramatic twist, she shot out the window, Adrien cocooned in her embrace.

"No! Adrien!" He ran to the window in time to see them soar toward the center of town. He watched them disappear behind a building, then ran to his atelier to find Nathalie.

* * *

"Don't be bemused, it's just the news." Nadja Chamack was already covering this newest akumatized villain before Marinette even registered there was a disturbance. She turned her attention fully to the screen, looking for clues of it's whereabouts.

"What is she holding?" Tikki asked.

Marinette's eyes shifted to the figure itself, and she gasped. "Adrien! Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

The hidden repository was full of smoke when Gabriel Agreste descended into it. "Nooroo, figure out why the vents aren't working and fix them!"

"Yes, master!" The purple kwami zoomed off, leaving Gabriel to search for Nathalie alone.

His eyes went immediately to the sarcophagus that had until recently contained his wife. He had put a fresh bouquet in her hands this morning, hoping that it would be a nice surprise for her if he managed to resurrect her at last. Now all that was left of the bundle were shredded petals and an overwhelming stench of burning foliage.

The smoke was thick here, at the epicenter of the explosion, and he had to get on all fours to avoid choking to death. It was then that he noticed one of the disheveled shrubberies had been smeared outward away from the coffin, as though something had been dragged through it. He followed the path of scattered branches and flattened chrysalises to a single black heel. Gabriel soon came upon the rest of his secretary. Bruises had already begun to form on her pale skin. Coughing, Gabriel draped her limp form over his shoulder and back, and retreated to the walkway. Shards of glass embedded in his palms and knees as he fought to breathe, crawling through the wreckage.

When Gabriel had made it halfway down the isle, he stood and carried the unconscious woman the rest of the way to the cylindrical elevator. As he tucked his feet inside, crouched under the weight of his secretary, a large blanket of foam fell from the ceiling, suppressing the smog and squelching the small fire that had arisen from the shattered enclosure. Nooroo came flying back to him as they ascended.

The richness of the clean air sent Gabriel into a coughing fit as soon as it hit him. He deposited Nathalie less gently than intended and stumbled over to his podium to steady himself.

"Arms up," Nooroo instructed, "To help the oxygen flow."

Gabriel followed his instruction and soon recovered his breath. Then he turned to Nathalie, knelt at her side, and began to assess the damage. Cradling her head, he gingerly prodded the swelling on her crown. She winced and swatted him weakly.

"Nathalie!"

The woman's eyes fluttered open, and she took in a sudden deep breath, sitting stark up. "Ow," she winced again, delicately placing a hand on the back of her head. She turned and looked at her boss, brow scrunched. "Mr. Agreste... your wife..."

He held up a hand. "I know. She took Adrien and left. What happened down there? Why were you in there alone?"

The anger in his voice caused her to flinch. She had seen him angry plenty of times, but rarely was it directed at her. "I..." Her jaw flapped, but she didn't know how to explain what had possessed her to visit the dying woman.

Instead of waiting for a response, Gabriel embraced her. He took a shaky breath. "I'm glad you're alright."

* * *

"Let me go!" Adrien demanded, not for the first time since he had been abducted from his room.

"Hush, my son. We are almost there."

Adrien scowled. "I'm not your son. But I can help you find him if you put me down."

"Adrien Agreste," Mother Fearest scolded, leveling her green gaze on him. "I gave birth to you. I sang to you and changed your diapers and read you bedtime stories. Your favorite was the book of nursery rhymes that we would sing together until you fell asleep in my arms. How dare you disown me."

Adrien gaped at her. "How... how did you know that?"

"Because I am your mother, Adrien. I'm sorry I have been absent for quite some time, but I assure you that I still love you as much as the day I brought you home from the hospital."

Adrien studied the woman holding him. Although she was transformed into something grotesque, her eyes remained human - the same eyes that stared back at him from his phone and computer screens. He'd been studying them all day, and now he couldn't deny it. These eyes belonged to Emilie Agreste.

"Mom? What are you doing here? Where have you been?" And the hardest question of all, asked more softly than the others, "Why did you leave us?"

His mother smiled at him, affection sparkling in her irises. "Oh Adrien. I never meant to leave. If I had known what would happen, I would have never -" Her words were cut off as a black string wrapped around her horns, yanking her out of the sky.

"Adrien!" Ladybug swung into action, tearing him away from his mother as she fought against the entanglement on her crown. Ladybug pulled her yo-yo back to herself, releasing Mother Fearest, and swung off toward town square.

"Take me back!" Adrien demanded, reaching for his mother who was now far behind them.

"What?! She's been akumatized. You can't help her by putting yourself in danger." Ladybug landed near an alcove a few blocks from Adrien's home. "Find shelter. Cat Noir and I will handle this. Did you happen to see who she was before she got akumatized?"

"She's-" Adrien hesitated, unsure if what he knew was really the truth. A battle waged within him between what he wanted to be true and what made logical sense. He sighed, placing his hand on the back of his neck. "She said she was my mother."

"Your mother?" Ladybug reacted with surprise. "But I thought your mother was missing? Is she back?" Then more quietly to herself, "Is that why you were acting weird at school?"

"Excuse me, m- Ladybug? I didn't hear that last bit." He did, but he wasn't sure he heard right.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Nothing. Just a thought. So she's your mother?"

Adrien frowned. "That's what she said. I'm afraid to believe her. I don't want to get my hopes up if she was lying."

"Do you think she was lying?" Ladybug asked, soft concern in her voice.

He looked away, in the direction of his house that he couldn't quite see. After a long moment of deliberation, he said, "No. I think she is my mom. But I don't know how. I mean, if she is, then where has she been? She must have been in Paris for Hawkmoth to akumatize her. Was she finally ready to come back, one whole year after she left us?"

Ladybug started. "Is this the one year anniversary?"

Adrien nodded, still unable to meet her eyes. He stared back the way they'd come, maybe hoping to catch a glance of her again, as if that would settle his distress.

Ladybug laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm sure whatever the reason, she didn't want to leave you."

"How do you know?" he asked, turning to face her, his features distorted with pain. "How do you know she didn't want to? Because if she could come back - and she did - then why did she leave in the first place? What was so important that she couldn't even tell me or my father that she was leaving? Because I certainly don't know."

Ladybug wrung her hands, caught between wanting to comfort him and not wanting to say the wrong thing. Finally she said, "If she didn't want you, then why was she carrying you? Was she going to hurt you?"

"No." Adrien was confident of that; she had no intention of hurting him. "When she took me from my room, she told my father she wanted us to be a family again. But then she got mad at him, and she flew off without him." He reflected on their conversation before Ladybug had rescued him. "She told me she loved me. She said she was sorry for leaving me, that she didn't want to."

When he didn't continue, Ladybug said, "I think you have your answer." She turned reluctantly. "I have to go now. The city - your mother - they're in danger. I'll make sure to get her back to you, Adrien. I promise." Then she bounded off toward the fight.

Adrien watched her go. "I hope you're right, My Lady."

* * *

**A/N: I hope you've enjoyed! More to come soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

"GIVE ME BACK MY SON!"

People screamed in the streets of Paris as Hawkmoth's newest recruit turned her rage on the innocent civilians. Cat Noir landed in the midst of two women standing atop a parked car, one screaming to be rescued from the lion attacking her, and the other sobbing over the sea of snakes surrounding them. The thing was, there were no such animals as far as the eye could see.

"It's okay," Cat Noir said to them, extending a clawed hand. "There's nothing here to hurt you."

The woman who had supposedly seen the lion gripped her friend and screamed louder, terror in her eyes as she stared at the superhero's outstretched hand. "No no, please! I'm too young to die!"

After another minute of trying to calm them, he gave up and went looking for Ladybug. She was having similar difficulties with a school bus full of children all crying for their mommies and daddies. It didn't help that the driver on the bus was also crying for his mom, curled up on the floor and sucking his thumb as he was. When her partner boarded the bus, she was midway through telling a story that absolutely no one was listening to.

"Cat Noir! I can't get anyone to calm down or make any sense. This girl says she sees a ghost, but that boy says there's a clown outside trying to get in. And the driver won't even tell me what's wrong with him."

"I think that's our new foe's doing. I overheard her call herself Mother Fearest. Maybe she can make people see what scares them most?" He offered her his hand and helped her climb down the steps back into the sidewalk. "Do you have any idea what she's looking for?"

Ladybug stared off in a certain direction. "I think I know. We better get to the Agreste estate, fast."

* * *

Gabriel explained to Nathalie what had happened regarding Emilie and the explosion in the basement. He located the first aid kit he kept in one of the cabinets and began tending to her wounds.

"I'm sorry you were hurt, Nathalie. If I hadn't lost my focus... I should have realized..."

"Gabriel," she said softly, covering the hand that was dabbing at her forehead with her own. Then she realized what she'd called him, released his hand and averted her eyes. "Mr. Agreste. It isn't your fault. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I had minded my own business and not talked to her..." She glanced up at the portrait on the wall, pressing her lips into a thin line. "How could she even hear me?"

Gabriel had no words for her, for the increasingly baffling situation they were in. He continued to clean away the blood from her many cuts and scratches, ignoring his own. But Nathalie couldn't.

She snatched up his hand, eyes widening as they fell upon the shards of glass still lodged in his palm. "What happened to you?"

Gabriel retained his stoic mask, tried to pull his hand out of hers. But she held fast. The activity had agitated his wounds, which were bleeding more than her own. How had she not noticed?

"I'm fine," he said dismissively.

"You are not fine." Nathalie plucked the cotton ball from his fingers and cast it aside in favor of a fresh one. She began tending to him as he had her, and with some reluctance, Gabriel allowed it. He shifted his weight from his shins to his behind in order to accommodate her, and that's when she discovered the extent of his physical wounds. "Gabriel!" she huffed, irritated that he had ignored his own condition to attend to her.

He relinquished a small smile. "You know, I don't mind when you call me by my first name. Not when we are in so informal a circumstance, especially."

Her cheeks flushed slightly. "It's not professional," she said, delicately picking the bits of debris from his flesh. "These pants are ruined."

"I have others." Gabriel grabbed a hrnpair of scissors from the kit and sheared the fabric above his knees, revealing a bloody mess. Nathalie swallowed hard.

"You shouldn't have ignored your own wounds for mine," she scolded.

"Mine are superficial. You were in an explosion. You hit your head and could have a concussion."

"Then I should be in a hospital, and so should you. These could get infected."

"I don't have time to go to a hospital." The declaration hung in the air, shunning any argument from either party.

Nathalie met his eyes. "I know. Your wife and son need you. I shouldn't be keeping you from them." She moved to stand, but her ankle gave way under her. Gabriel caught her before she could injure herself further.

"Let me call the car around. You shouldn't walk in your condition." Wiping his hands against his thighs, Gabriel Agreste pushed himself up and not-quite-waddled over to his console.

Nathalie smiled to herself. She took inventory of what hurt and what she could move. Her twisted ankle was missing a shoe, she noted internally, deciding not to bother Mr. Agreste with such a trivial matter. But it seemed he had already bothered himself.

"Here." He handed her a pair of black flats that she hadn't seen him retrieve. "Your other shoe came off in the explosion, and I didn't think to get it before leaving the vault."

"Oh," she cooed, accepting them. They were comfortable and perfectly fit her feet. "But, these aren't mine."

Gabriel smirked. "In fact they are." He glanced back at his tablet, face returning to neutral. "The car is ready. Let me escort you out."

Nathalie accepted his help without a fuss. Once at the front door, Gabriel handed her over to the bodyguard, who took her rather brusquely into his arms as though she were a small child. She was thankful she hadn't worn a skirt.

"Take her to the hospital. Make sure she gets the best care and doesn't escape your sight," Gabriel instructed the burly man. "And Nathalie," he paused so she could look at him, "Be safe. Please."

Nathalie could only nod as she was carried down the stairs and into the idling vehicle.

Gabriel watched them drive away, then returned briskly to his atelier.

* * *

Cat Noir perched on the roof of the Agreste mansion next to Ladybug. They surveyed the area, waiting for Mother Fearest to arrive.

"What makes you so sure she will come here, My Lady?" Cat Noir asked, feigning ignorance. It was something he'd gotten good at since taking up the mantle of hero.

"She's looking for her son, and this is his house," Ladybug replied without taking her eyes off the horizon.

"Wait, isn't this Gabriel Agreste's house? I thought his wife went missing a year ago."

"Apparently she's back, and she wants Adrien."

"Should we warn him? Or does he already know?" Cat Noir smiled to himself, proud that he was so good at keeping his identity a secret. Although he would rather have no secrets from Ladybug, he respected her concerns for their safety. She had reason to fear - they had each been affected by akumatized powers in the past - and knowing each other's true identities would make them even more vulnerable to each other should they be compromised again.

Ladybug shook her head. "He knows. I spoke to him earlier. He's..." she hesitated, unsure what to keep confidential from her partner. "He's having a tough time dealing with it. I made him a promise that we would bring his mother back to him."

Cat looked at his partner, and wondered how she could so easily make him love her more than he already did. A shrieking wail coming their direction forced his attention back to the matter at hand. "Well," he began, stretching his legs, "time to keep our promise."

* * *

"Mother Fearest. Remember our deal: you get your son back in exchange for the Miraculouses. Wait, where is Adrien?" Hawkmoth clenched his jaw. First his wife, and now his son had left him.

Mother Fearest growled back at him, "That impetuous little bug stole him from me! As soon as I find her, I will squash her!"

Hawkmoth pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course. "Very well. As long as you take her Miraculous, you may do as you desire with her. But don't forget that you have to be a good example to your son." Hawkmoth shook his head, surprised at his own words. Clenching his fist, he demanded, "Bring me the Miraculous!"

Mother Fearest chortled at him. It turned his stomach sour to hear Emilie's laugh corrupted so, and by his own hand at that. He suppressed the urge to vomit, assuring himself that it would all be worth it to have her alive and normal back in his arms again.

"Have faith in me, Hawk Moth," she grinned, "I'm not one to disappoint."

Hawkmoth nodded, watching the city pass by through his telepathic connection with his accomplice. At last she arrived at his house, where he saw through her eyes that Ladybug and Cat Noir were waiting for her.

"Find Adrien," he demanded.

"I know! Don't you think that was already my plan? I am a mother first and your servant second." Then Mother Fearest turned to the two heroes and started interrogating them for the whereabouts of her son.

Hawk Moth watched as she released a whirlwind through the room, tearing it apart in her urgency to find the missing boy. He reflected on the mess she was making of his home, ignorant of its parallels to his own life and actions. As long as he had his family back at the end of this, little else mattered. He could right the messes she made with the Ladybug Miraculous once it was in his grasp. But could he fix his relationship with Adrien? He supposed giving the boy his mother back should be sufficient means of mending. Emilie had always been the soft, hands-on half of their parental unit. If anyone could make Adrien forgive his father, it was her.

* * *

"He's in a safe place," Ladybug told the dark figure. "Somewhere you can't hurt him."

"You ignorant girl," Mother Fearest snarled back. "I would never hurt my sweet Adrien. He is the light of my life, and I will not allow you to separate him from me. If he is not here, then tell me where he is!"

Ladybug glanced at her partner, who was unusually quiet today. His normally playful smile was gone, replaced by a pained sort of grimace. Had he been hurt and she not noticed? They hadn't even begun the fight yet. Did one of the citizens that Mother Fearest had affected wound him in some way?

"Cat, are you okay?"

"Hm?" Cat Noir glanced at her and forced a grin. "Nothing, M'Lady. I mean, I'm fine." But his eyes glistened despite his words.

"Do not ignore me while I am talking to you!" Mother Fearest shrieked, tearing at one of her jagged black horns.

Ladybug scrutinized him. "After this, we're talking."

"As you wish," he said, turning his attention back to the matter at hand. But it was not quickly enough for Mother Fearest. Cat looked up in time to see that she had hurled a torn-off horn at Ladybug, which smacked her right in the forehead as she turned to face the woman.

"Ladybug!" Cat Noir rushed to her side. His hands fluttered over her face. "Are you okay, M'Lady?"

"Maybe. Is my nose bleeding?" Ladybug pulled her hands away to let her partner inspect.

Cat Noir delicately swept her bangs back to reveal a red spot. His fingers curled into a fist in his other hand. He turned with a scowl and yelled, "Catacly-"

"No!" Ladybug cut him off, "We don't even know where the akuma is. What are you going to do, cataclysm all of her?"

Cat Noir held his palm open like he was considering it. He'd been on the receiving end of one before. It hurt, but it was by no means a death sentence - not to a living creature. Instead he opted to look for the thing that had hit her. "Where did that horn go? It seems to be the only detachable part of her."

As he said it, the horn flew back into Mother Fearest's gloved hand. She dipped her head and set it back into place, where it immediately cemented itself to her skull. As it did, Cat Noir realized the five horns wreathing her crown were arranged in such a manner that they mimicked a star. He wondered if - but doubted himself because it made no sense - a necklace isn't a tiara. He was still processing the idea when the point of the front-most horn caught the light and glinted silver for only a moment. It was enough to convince him.

"Ladybug, her crown. I think the akuma is in there!" His smile instantly vanished when he saw her.

* * *

Hawkmoth struck his staff against the stone floor. "Why are you stalling? Take their Miraculouses!"

"Adrien isn't here," Mother Fearest replied, as if destroying his room and hitting children with accessories should be irresistible to any boy in the vicinity.

"We will find him together as soon as I have the Miraculouses!"

Mother Fearest took a long look at the costumed teens. Deciding they weren't worth her time, she turned and flew off.

"Em- Mother Fearest! I gave you a direct order. If you don't get their Miraculouses, I will take away your powers, and you will be unable to search for your son!"

The woman snorted derisively at him. "I will move heaven and earth to reunite my family. Even with his cheating heart, Gabriel is still my husband, and at the end of the day," she gazed out across the stores and houses as she ascended toward the setting sun, "I know he still loves me, that he'll choose me over any other's affection. If I don't bring our son home safely, there's no point in anything we do."

Hawk Moth shut his mouth and sighed through his nose. "Fine. Go find Adrien."

Mother Fearest gave a small smirk and set out on her mission.

* * *

Cat Noir was keenly aware that their charge was getting away. However, his partner had become enraptured by a displaced body pillow, and he needed to get to the bottom of her behavior first.

"My Lady?" He approached her like one approaches a frightened animal - with slow, precise steps.

On her knees, mouth ajar, Ladybug was ignorant of her surroundings except one thing, one horrible thing. The body. His body. Her hand flew to her chest, her breath sticky in her throat. She was going to throw up. Her mouth was too wet and too dry all at once. She trembled uncontrollably as she approached him, fingers outstretched. A mop of hair separated their eyes from each other's. She needed to see them. She couldn't bring herself to look. "Oh no, oh please." A prayer, so delicate, so brittle. So hopeless. "Adrien, please."

The body didn't move - how could it? So contorted, so heavy - even with all her strength she could barely lift his head. His whole body followed suit - rigor mortis had already set in. "No, please. Please." Her little voice shattered on the words, tears dropping where they met mask, raining down on what had once been a vibrant, beautiful boy. "Oh. Adrien?" She sobbed out the name, wrapping her thin arms around him, his incredibly heavy neck and shoulders. "Why?" Now her voice was a wail. "Why!" A demand. A call for blood. Then, "Adrien," a broken sob again.

"Ladybug," Cat Noir grabbed her shoulders. "Ladybug, it's just a pillow. It's not Adrien. Adrien is at the library, remember?"

Ladybug fought him off, sliding backward across the room, through the debris, clutching the body pillow. "Stop lying!" Ladybug howled. "He's not at the library; he'd never hide out while others are in danger. He's not a coward!"

Cat Noir was taken aback by her vicious tone. He held his hands up placatingly. "I'm not saying that. Adrien - he's a smart guy. He knows we're the superheroes. He trusts us - especially you - to make things right and defeat Hawk Moth. He wouldn't jeopardize that by getting in the thick of things."

"Look, Cat Noir. Look! Does he seem to have a choice to you?" She shook the pillow at him before settling it on her lap again and stroking one of its corners.

Cat couldn't stand to see her so distraught. He wrung his hands, trying to make a decision. If Cat Noir left, that would leave Ladybug exposed and vulnerable. But the circumstances were already pretty dire. "Don't move, M'Lady. I'll get him for you."

Checking that they were indeed alone, he ducked out into the hallway and over to the guest quarters. Once in the bathroom, he retracted his claws and allowed Plagg to be himself again. He handed him a piece of cheese, ignored the kwami's complaints about its flavor, and rushed back across the hall into his bedroom. Ladybug was right where he'd left her.

Adrien rounded the overturned piano and skidded on his knees to her. "Ladybug." He placed his hand on hers.

She forced herself to look into his face. Recognition flashed in her eyes. She flung the pillow aside and pulled herself up to her knees. Gently placing a hand on his cheek, Ladybug studied the boy. Adrien gave her a sweet smile. Ladybug released a sob and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She nestled into the crook of his neck, left cheek touching his right. Adrien ignored the blush that reddened his flesh. "I thought you were dead," Ladybug confided, holding him tightly.

Adrien felt hot tears on his shoulder, and wrapped his arms around her in kind. "I'm okay. You've done a good job protecting me. But now," he paused, because she was warm and it had been so long since he'd been hugged by someone he cared for, "now, you need to go and protect others."

Ladybug released him, meeting his eyes. They were kind and supportive, and she knew he was right. "Okay." She stood and pulled him to his feet. "I'll go get your mother, and bring her back safe. Cat Noir," she looked around for her partner. "Have you seen him?"

Adrien shoved his hands into his pockets. "He brought me here from the library. He said he'd be outside when you were ready."

Ladybug smiled. "He had a lot of faith in you. I'm glad he was right." She squeezed his arm before turning around and jumping out the open window.

Adrien watched her go with a smitten smile before Plagg reminded him of his mission. In a flash, he was outside, right behind the girl he loved.

* * *

**A/N: One or two more chapters left. This is a short story in comparison to most of mine. I meant to wrap it up in this chapter, but oh well. **


	3. Chapter 3

"So what's the plan?"

Cat Noir and Ladybug had tracked the villain to the school, where she was going classroom to classroom looking for her son.

Ladybug scrutinized the building, her eyes narrowing at each open doorway. "There's got to be some way to get her to stop long enough for us to take her akumatized item. What did you say it was again?"

"Her necklace. I mean, her crown. It's shaped like the necklace that Emilie Agreste wore in a lot of her movie posters before she disappeared." Cat Noir breathed a little easier after he finished delivering the excuse for how he knew what the necklace looked like.

Ladybug blinked at him before smiling. "Wow. You must have been a fan of hers."

"Yeah." Cat rubbed the back of his neck. "Probably her biggest fan."

Ladybug gave him a sweet smile before she turned back to face their problem. "Now we have to figure out how to get it."

"She throws a horn whenever she needs to frighten somebody. Maybe if we can catch her horn, we can break it and release the akuma."

Ladybug considered it. "It'll be risky. What if it hits us and we get affected again?"

"If I recall, bugaboo, it was only you who got scared the last time." He gave her a goofy grin, to which she frowned and turned up her nose.

"It might not hurt to have some backup. I'll go get our friends. You stay here and keep an eye on her." With that, she left.

"As you wish, M'Lady." Cat Noir sat down cross-legged on the roof of the school. He could hear Mother Fearest throwing things and kicking in doors inside the school. He sighed. It would be nice for Adrien to have his mother back, once this whole mess was over. Assuming she wanted to stay, that is - he wished he knew why she'd left in the first place. Maybe she'd been kidnapped, and only escaped because Hawk Moth had akumatized her. But then, if she'd been close enough this whole time, why hadn't he akumatized her before? Surely she wouldn't have enjoyed being held against her will.

Cat Noir rubbed his eyes and groaned. There was no point in speculation - he'd be able to ask her soon enough. Below him, the woman screeched with unbridled frustration.

"Adrien! Come to mama! It's not nice to hide when I'm looking for you!" Her voice wavered between sweet and shrill, giving Adrien the unfortunate feeling that he was going to be punish once he was discovered. He shrank back a little, hoping she wouldn't see him.

On the sidewalk outside the school, the trio of superheroes came running onto the scene. Cat Noir took one more look inside through the sunroof before leaping down to join them. "She's still on the second floor, but she only has one classroom and the lockers left to look through," he reported.

"Is it really Mrs. Agreste in there?" Rena Rouge demanded as soon as he finished his sentence.

Cat nodded. "Without a doubt. It's her."

"Alright, here's the plan," Ladybug began.

* * *

Mother Fearest screamed in frustration. "Adrien!"

"Right here, mom." Her eyes shot to the blonde boy as he strutted into the center of the room. Adrien Agreste gave her his signature smile and struck a pose like a ditzy glamour model.

"Adrien! Sweetie, I've been looking for you." Mother Fearest's smile faded as she neared him. "Why didn't you answer?"

"I'm sorry, mom. I was trapped. But I got out, and I'm here now." He held his arms out placatingly.

Mother Fearest approached her son. She reached out to stroke his hair, only for his image to disintegrate in front of her.

"Now!"

From above, Ladybug descended on the villain, encircling her crown with her yo-yo string. Mother Fearest roared, thrashing about like a hooked fish. Carapace enveloped her body - shoulders to ankles - in a forcefield, insuring that she couldn't reach up and untangle her ensnarement.

"Cataclysm!" Cat Noir pounced from the second floor, black energy in his right hand. His attack disintegrated the dark crown, releasing the akuma inside.

Ladybug swung her yo-yo and captured the tainted akuma. Catching her yo-yo, she released the cleansed creature with a wave of her fingers. "Bye bye little butterfly." The white akuma fluttered off and out of sight.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She tossed her lucky charm into the air, calling forth the swarm of magic ladybugs that swept through the city and put everything right - including Emilie Agreste.

The fair-haired beauty fell to the floor, lifeless.

"Mom!" Cat Noir blurted, rushing to her side.

Ladybug turned to fist-bump her partner and realized he was on the floor next to the fallen woman. She knelt down beside them as Cat cradled her head in his lap.

Rena Rouge rushed into the room, taking a stance next to Carapace, who was watching the trio.

"But I don't understand," Ladybug mused. "The ladybugs are supposed to put everything back to the way it was. So why is she like this?"

"Because this IS the way she was." The heroes turned to look as Gabriel Agreste entered the room, looking completely disheveled. He was a minor disaster, with his bloody knees and scraped-up hands, his hair tufted and tangled, his suit jacket gone and silver vest covered in soot, and his pants half removed. He was a walking wardrobe malfunction.

Cat Noir tightened his hold on Emilie Agreste. In a low, articulate voice, he threatened, "What do you mean?"

Despite his appearance, Gabriel maintained his poise as he walked into the room, wrists crossed behind his back. "My wife has been under my care for quite some time. One year ago, she was injured on an expedition we took to celebrate our anniversary. She has been like this ever since." He spread his arms to indicate the prone akuma victim.

"What kind of injury?" Cat Noir asked, still holding Emilie tight. Her shallow breathing brushed the tips of his hair.

Gabriel averted his eyes. "A severe kind." After a momentary hesitation and a thick breath, he added, "She may never wake up."

"Then why isn't she in a hospital?" Cat Noir asked, his voice gaining venom. "Why have you been hiding her?"

"Easy," Ladybug cautioned gently, placing a hand on her partner's shoulder.

Cat Noir glared at Gabriel, daring him to give an excuse. Gabriel met his eyes with a more subdued fire. "I'm afraid no mere doctor can cure what has befallen _my_wife." He approached the pack of heroes, keeping his poise as he knelt beside them. Extending his arms toward Emilie, he said, "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to take my wife home."

Cat Noir tightened his grip on her. "She needs _professional_care."

Rena Rouge's necklace blinked with urgency. "Ladybug," she stage-whispered, indicating her predicament before running off through the double doors.

Ladybug looked between the fleeing forms of Carapace and Rena, and the two men feuding over the body of an unconscious woman. She bit her lip. "I'll be right back, Mr. Agreste. Cat, don't do anything until I return." Then she ran off after the other two heroes.

Alone save for the topic of disagreement, Gabriel Agreste and Cat Noir stared each other down.

"What gives you any right to say how I care for her?" Gabriel said more than asked.

"Because she's my- I mean, she's a human being. She deserves the best care, and if she's been in this state for a _year_, clearly she isn't getting that from you."

Then Gabriel did something completely undignified: he grabbed Emilie and pulled her into his own lap. "You're an insolent child. Your parents clearly haven't raised you properly."

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge if I were you," Cat Noir snapped back. Despite his own desires, he allowed Gabriel to keep his mother. Using her in a tug-of-way wouldn't help her any.

Ladybug ran back into the atrium. She surveyed the situation. "Cat, your ring. You're about to transform back."

The offending object blinked and blipped. Cat Noir seemed like he wouldn't budge from the spot. But then he stood. "Don't let him out of your sight. Help him take her wherever she's going. I'll catch up with you later." Then he left them.


End file.
